Stem Cells

Although ESCR is highly publicized as a possible means to put an end to many debilitating diseases, the murder of a human being is not justified. Many less popularized means have already begun treating and bringing an end to these same diseases, and without the need to destroy human life.

The past decade has seen a steady stream of good news about morally sound alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. Although popular reporting often obscures the fact, unborn embryos are not the only source of human stem cells.

Adult stem cells have been used in a blindness-curing treatment described by one ophthalmologist as a “roaring success.” The procedure is another exciting success of medical therapy that uses adult stem cells. These do not require the destruction of human life, as do embryonic stem cells.

Japanese and American researchers from Kyoto University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University announced a “reprogramming” technique that has rendered fetal mouse cells “indistinguishable” from embryonic stem cells.

Knowledge that these cells have the ability to transform into so many tissue types is welcome. The promise, if fulfilled, that this technology would be available without the destruction of human life is priceless.